LSU Football: The Ja’Marr Chase era is over far too soon

After opting out of the 2020 season, it’s clear that the Ja’Marr Chase era with LSU football is over far too soon. He’ll be missed by many.

The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the worst in the history of time. Not only have we been dealing with the loss and/or delay of sports, but society is a mess right now.

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into a lot of plans, but the SEC, ACC and Big 12 are planning to move forward with the 2020 season. Some players, however, have chosen to opt out in order to either utilize a redshirt season or prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Ja’Marr Chase has been the latest to do just that, making the decision on Sunday afternoon.

This comes as a surprise because the season is just weeks away but the uncertainty of the season and potential health concerns have caused this late announcement. It also ends the Chase era in Baton Rouge far too soon.

We saw Ja’Marr finish with an astounding 1,780 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns on 84 receptions as a sophomore and he was back to build on that and become the first receiver chosen in the 2021 NFL Draft. He won’t get the opportunity to prove he’s the best receiver in the upcoming draft class, but he has a good case based off his sophomore year.

After a quiet freshman campaign in which he caught 23 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns, Chase broke out and became one of the nation’s top wide outs.

Then he broke out as a sophomore and helped lead LSU to a national title, becoming Joe Burrow’s second-favorite target behind Justin Jefferson who had 111 catches in 2019. He did, however, have the biggest home-run threat ability on the roster and it’s a shame we won’t get to see him get even more targets in 2020.

LSU will have a tough time replacing Chase and it will likely be Terrace Marshall Jr. stepping up as the No. 1 receiver, but the Tigers should be just fine.

Still, college football fans have to be upset about this loss. The 2020 season just got slightly less exciting.